Agenda item

To receive the Amey Annual Performance report for the year 2015-16

PLEASE NOTE:  The report will be provided as a separate supplement to the agenda when it is available

The Chair welcomed Councillor Porter, Cabinet Member for Environment; Mr Malcolm Cox, Operations Manager at Amey; and Mr Lloyd Griffiths, Head of Neighbourhood Services, to the meeting.

Members were presented with the annual performance report for 2015-16 for the Streetcare Strategic Partnership delivered by Amey.  The report included key performance indicators (KPIs) and a service delivery plan.

Councillor Porter and Mr Malcolm Cox summarised the headlines in the report and the future challenges facing the partnership before opening up the matter for debate by the Committee.

Members discussed the following matters:-

1.       A Member commented that it was difficult to correlate the poor quality of street cleaning in his ward with the KPI for this activity.  The Head of Neighbourhood Services informed the Member that the Council’s Neighbourhood Services Officers had increased their monitoring work and agreed that there was a communication issue with residents.  The Member responded that in future the KPI should be cross-referenced with a meaningful description of the quality of the work.

2.       A Member stated that service requests reported late in the day or on a Friday afternoon were not actioned until the next day or the following Monday and that this resulted in issues becoming exacerbated by the time they were addressed.  The Member reflected on the challenges faced by the partnership in forthcoming years and asked how Amey would balance the need to achieve savings with residents’ expectations.  Mr Cox acknowledged the Member’s comments and added that Amey would have to implement creative measures to meet the savings targets.  The Member requested to see a programme of service changes.  Councillor Porter advised the Member that savings generators were being explored and that these would be brought back to Overview and Scrutiny, when available.

3.       A Member requested that in future, the previous year’s performance data be provided alongside the current information. Councillor Porter agreed with this request.

4.       A Member referred to page 9 of the report relating to deep cleansing of chewing gum in identified areas of the City Centre and commented that these mainly related to the gate streets and that there was a problem in side streets in the City Centre.  The Member noted that this was referenced in the City Plan and asked whether gum removal would be reviewed and improved in the future.  Mr Cox responded that due to resources the pressure washer was used for other functions.  The Head of Neighbourhood Services added that the contract allowed for the resource to be moved to where it was needed, but that this would be at the expense of other cleansing regimes.  The Member suggested that the administration should review the effectiveness of the current contract.

5.       A Member referred to Hillfield Gardens and the fact that this was maintained by operatives who had basic skills and no gardening expertise.  The Member said that as a consequence the gardens were not being managed properly and that plants were being removed incorrectly.  Councillor Porter agreed that the standard of maintenance at Hillfield Gardens could be improved but there were insufficient resources to employ a full time professional gardener.  Councillor Porter commended the efforts of the Friends of Hillfield Gardens and said it was important that their work was not compromised by Amey’s operatives.

6.       A Member asked why litter picking was not carried out at Parry Field before the grass was mown and stated that the resultant shards of metal from discarded aluminium cans on the football pitch had constituted a serious health hazard.  The Member also asked why white lining had been carried out prior to the pitch being mown and not afterwards.  Mr Cox apologised to the Member for the metal shards and said normal practice was to send a litter crew in beforehand.  Mr Cox added that the pitch was not actually white-lined as the lines had been cut out with a machine to give the appearance of white lining.

7.       A Member referred to problems caused by litter on the streets and inconsiderate parking during two concerts held at Kingsholm Stadium and asked how standards would be maintained for rugby days.  Another Member commented that the Stadium should have portable toilets outside to reduce public urination.  Councillor Porter replied that the rugby club was responsible for all litter and maintenance within the ground on match days and that their licence also included an obligation to collect litter outside the ground on match days.   Councillor Porter stated that there was no obligation for the rugby club to liaise with Amey to collect litter outside the ground for concerts, but that following complaints made after the Jess Glynne concert that an arrangement had been made with Amey for litter collection for the Lionel Ritchie concert and that the rugby club had agreed to pay a contribution.  Councillor Porter assured the Member that moving forward the Club’s licence would be reviewed to ensure this did not happen again.

8.       A Member turned to the KPI data on complaints and suggested that it would be useful to have feedback on them and have them grouped by themes.  The Member noted that there was no data for waste complaints from December 2015 to May 2016.  The Head of Neighbourhood Services advised the Member that data had been collected for the missing period, but that due to an administrator leaving before Christmas it had not been possible to present the information.  The Head of Neighbourhood Services further advised the Member that he would review the way information was presented in the KPIs in the future.  Councillor Porter commented that it was important for Councillors to know what was going on in their Wards and that he would arrange for revised information to be sent out.

9.       Three Members reported issues with the weed spraying regime for pavements and gutters and commented on the lack of information available to Ward Councillors to enable them to deal with residents’ queries.  Members were advised that gutter maintenance was the responsibility of the County Council, but that Amey liaised with the County particularly in relation to deep cleaning.  Mr Cox informed Members that pavement spraying was carried out three times a year.  Councillor Porter commented that details of the weed spraying regime would be placed on the Council’s website along with grass cutting schedules.  The Head of Neighbourhood Services added that it was intended to display this information within the next seven to fourteen days.

10.     A Member noted the KPI relating to sickness absence and asked how this was being managed and also queried how the shortage of HGV drivers was being addressed.  Mr Cox replied that sickness was being monitored and that return to work interviews were now carried out.  He added that agency staff had been used in the past, but the practice now was to employ full-time staff.

11.     A Member sought clarification on an indexation adjustment of £200K.  The Head of Neighbourhood Services clarified the position for the Member.

12.     A Member noted that there was no KPI for the removal of dog excrement.  Councillor Porter agreed to include this information in the future.

13.     A Member noted that the Amey Service Delivery Plan included a reference to tree survey software.  Mr Cox indicated this was a modern software tool which would link into the County Council’s tree system.  The Member asked if Ward Councillors could have advance notice of work being carried out on trees within their Wards so that they could deal with residents’ queries.  The Head of Neighbourhood Services commented that there was a fine balance in knowing how much information to give Members and agreed to take the Member’s request on board.

The Chair thanked Councillor Porter and Mr Cox for their presentation.

RESOLVED – That the Amey Annual Report for the year 2015-16 be noted.